[GreenYes] Re: A green way to make green stuff and save the world - Win-win!

[David Biddle <Dbiddle@no.address>]

Check ?em out at: http://www.terracycle.net/production.htm

Actually, spend some time at their web site. It¹s fascinating. I¹m going up
for a visit in late September I hope.

db

-- 
David Biddle, Executive Director
Greater Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Council
P.O. Box 4037
Philadelphia, PA 19118

215-247-3090 (desk)
215-432-8225 (cell)

<http://www.gpcrc.com>

Read In Business magazine to learn about sustainable
businesses in communities across North America!
Go to: <http://www.jgpress.com/inbusine.htm>
on 8/24/06 5:02 PM, lstoerkel@no.address at lstoerkel@no.address wrote:

> 
> I'm curious about how Terracycle is defining the "garbage" they are
> feeding their worms.  Is it MSW, or source separated organics?
> Laurie Stoerkel
> Emeryville, CA
> 
> Nancy Meyer wrote:
>> > All,
>> >
>> > If you missed the CNN In The Money segment on Terracycle Inc last
>> > weekend, below is a transcript.  This company makes a product from
>> > garbage and packages it in garbage - wonderful!
>> >
>> > I am a member of their bottle brigade simply by placing the free
>> > collection boxes they send in the break room at the elementary school.
>> > When the box is full of plastic bottles I send it postage-paid back to
>> > Freecycle, and they keep me posted on how many acres of rain forest our
>> > school has saved.  You can also make money for your school or favorite
>> > charity with this program.
>> >
>> > Check it out!   http://www.terracycle.net
>> >
>> > BTW, their fertilizer products are available in home improvement stores
>> > nationwide, including Home Depot.
>> >
>> > Why not get a collection box and place it at your school or business?
>> > It's easy, it's free, and it's the right thing to do.
>> >
>> > NMeyer
>> >
>> > ++++++++++++++++++++++
>> > ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Tom Szaky, landfills
>> > are lands of wasted opportunity.
>> >
>> > TOM SZAKY, FOUNDER & CEO, TERRACYCLE: Garbage is all opportunity.
>> > Garbage is great, because it's stuff that you can do something with.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: At age 24, he's the founder and CEO of Terracycle, a company
>> > that makes organic plant fertilizer entirely from trash. His product is
>> > made by feeding garbage to millions of worms. The worm's castings, or
>> > feces, which are a natural, powerful fertilizer, are then filtered and
>> > liquefied.
>> >
>> > SZAKY: Brewing worm poo.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: The final product is completely organic and costs less than
>> > many chemical-based competitors.
>> >
>> > The idea to mass produce the stuff came to Szaky at age 20 while he was
>> > a student at Princeton University. Szaky and his best friend turned
>> > business partner, John Vier (ph), drew up a business plan, forked over
>> > their savings, maxed out credit cards, even borrowed their friends' bar
>> > mitzvah money to get the company off the ground. SZAKY: Being 20 and
>> > having a worm poop start-up, we still had no success raising any money
>> > from any venture capitalist or anything like that.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: Strapped for cash, Szaky and Vier needed a cheap packaging
>> > solution.
>> >
>> > SZAKY: Solutions at Terracycle have always come out of necessity.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: The answer, package garbage in garbage. Terracycle bottles are
>> > reused soda bottles, many actually collected by school children and
>> > organizations all over the country. The spray tops are leftovers from
>> > other companies. And the shipping boxes, other corporations' misprints.
>> >
>> > In the two years that followed, Terracycle raised over $4 million from
>> > private investors. And the plant food can now be found in the world's
>> > largest retailer retailers, like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and CVS.
>> >
>> > The company has recruited a team of experts. Many have more years of
>> > industry experience than Szaky has had on the planet.
>> >
>> > SZAKY: Everyone here knows more than I do about what they do. And I'm
>> > more here just to challenge them and think differently.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: And his youthful creativity permeates the whole office, from
>> > the graffiti on the walls to the ex-dorm room furniture that, you
>> > guessed it, was once garbage.
>> >
>> > Szaky hopes his eco-friendly business model can set an example for other
>> > companies. But it's not all sunshine and chlorophyll. Szaky admits
>> > there's still room to grow. Purchasing more machines could seriously
>> > speed up production.
>> >
>> > SZAKY: I can't wait for the day we get our auto-tightening (ph) machine
>> > for these tights.
>> >
>> > UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please.
>> >
>> > SZAKY: It will save some blisters.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: Terracycle has yet to make a profit but expects to break even
>> > by next year, with projected sales estimated at about $5 million.
>> >
>> > As for the company's future...
>> >
>> > SZAKY: The goal for Terracycle is to make $100 million business that's
>> > based on ecocapitalism, where you can make lots of money and save the
>> > world at the same time. And to do it in a really big way.
>> >
>> > CHERNOFF: A pretty lofty goal, but if you buy into a business model
>> > where trash is opportunity, the sources for success are practically
>> > limitless.
>> > 
>> > Allan Chernoff, CNN.
> 
> 
> > 
> 


-- 
David Biddle, Executive Director
Greater Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Council
P.O. Box 4037
Philadelphia, PA 19118

215-247-3090 (desk)
215-432-8225 (cell)

<http://www.gpcrc.com>

Read In Business magazine to learn about sustainable
businesses in communities across North America!
Go to: <http://www.jgpress.com/inbusine.htm>




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